Community college students need help meeting basic needs

Many facing basic needs insecurity didn’t receive help from their campuses, researchers found. They suggested opening resources to all students.

By Laura Spitalniak • Oct. 19, 2022

Are early alert systems helping or hurting students at community colleges?

New America report flags challenges including procurement, reluctant faculty, ineffective messages, possible racial discrimination and data struggles.

By Rick Seltzer • Oct. 19, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

Student Engagement

Colleges focus on retention with a variety of steps designed to keep students committed to staying in school and completing their education.

By Higher Ed Dive staff

How do colleges decide when to schedule courses?

More colleges think about the courses students will need than avoiding conflicts in students’ schedules, according to a scheduling software provider’s research.

By Rick Seltzer • Oct. 18, 2022

Can higher education really be redesigned to connect learners and the workforce?

Education Design Lab’s CEO talks about the nonprofit’s work, including what it calls human-centered design.

By Rick Seltzer • Oct. 14, 2022

Education Department ramps up oversight of college banking deals following critical CFPB report

New report indicates more must be done to keep students from being guided to “school-endorsed products with junk fees,” the CFPB’s director says.

By Rick Seltzer • Updated Oct. 14, 2022

ACT reports lowest average composite score in decades after number of test takers plunged

Just 1.35 million students who graduated from high school in 2022 took the entrance exam, compared to 2.1 million in the 2016 class.

By Jeremy Bauer-Wolf • Oct. 12, 2022

Why a state flagship will encourage all 30,000 of its students to open investment accounts

University of Kentucky athletes can now opt into new investment accounts. Program will scale up widely to prod more students to learn about finances.

By Laura Spitalniak • Oct. 7, 2022

What colleges can learn from COVID-19 relief to improve other emergency aid programs

States and colleges should work together when promoting emergency aid for students, according to a new report from NASFAA and NASPA.

By Laura Spitalniak • Oct. 5, 2022

LGBTQ students with campus mental health services have lower suicide attempt rates, survey finds

But only 63% of polled students said that their college offered LGBTQ-specific services, according to The Trevor Project.

By Laura Spitalniak • Sept. 29, 2022

Why aren’t people going to college?

Many who didn’t enroll or finish degrees say college is too expensive — but they also cite stress and career uncertainty, new research finds.

By Rick Seltzer • Sept. 28, 2022

Texting and chatbot company Ocelot raises $117M

The company has pivoted in recent years from creating videos for colleges to providing chatbot and texting services for students.

By Natalie Schwartz • Sept. 28, 2022

The sale of student lists exacerbates inequity in the admissions process, reports say

Underrepresented students often get overlooked because colleges have the option to sift information by preferred demographics, according to TICAS.

By Laura Spitalniak • Sept. 23, 2022

IT certifications ease tech job access as employers lower degree requirements

The tech talent crunch has companies looking beyond academic credentials to meet workforce demand. For burgeoning IT pros, there’s a chance to level up. 

By Lindsey Wilkinson • Sept. 21, 2022

Making higher ed mobile: Catering to student demands for ease, speed and access

Higher ed leaders don’t have to look far to woo students with the devices they can’t live without: their smartphones.

Sept. 19, 2022

We agree with the surgeon general. The door to fixing college mental health is cracked, and it’s time to blow it open.

Two Lumina Foundation leaders take up Vivek Murthy’s call to expand counseling services and address loneliness among college students.

By Zainab Okolo and Jamie Merisotis • Sept. 19, 2022

Gates Foundation pours $100M into college transformation effort

The five-year commitment flows through six intermediary organizations, which the foundation says is an evolution in its approach to grant-making.

By Rick Seltzer • Sept. 15, 2022

What colleges should do to keep degrees from being segregated

Students enter college with majors split by race and gender. They graduate the same way, a Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality report said.

By Laura Spitalniak • Sept. 15, 2022

Short-Term Pell didn’t make it into August’s CHIPS Act. Where does it go from here?

Several paths remain for expanding Pell Grants to programs as short as eight weeks, but they’re unlikely, especially before November’s midterms.

By Lilah Burke • Sept. 9, 2022

How one nonprofit is looking beyond ‘generic tools’ to help HBCUs boost retention

The Partnership for Education Advancement’s CEO discusses working to boost technology at HBCUs and colleges that drive social mobility.

By Rick Seltzer • Sept. 9, 2022

Colleges prepare to expand programming when Pell Grants are reinstated for prison education in 2023

Programs will be required to support students holistically, with academic advising, career advising and easily transferable credits.

By Laura Spitalniak • Sept. 8, 2022

Over 1 in 20 students at a state flagship are caregivers, researchers found. They face these challenges.

Students with caregiving responsibilities were disproportionately women, receiving financial aid and attending college part time, researchers found.

By Laura Spitalniak • Sept. 8, 2022

Skills-based learning is the key to improving ROI in education

Colleges must make sure students leave with hands-on experience, not just theoretical understanding, argues the executive director of Turing School.

By Jeff Casimir • Sept. 6, 2022

Expand post-baccalaureate offerings to help diversify faculty, researchers say

More bridge programs between undergraduate and graduate studies can boost low-income students and students of color, according to Ithaka S+R.

By Laura Spitalniak • Sept. 1, 2022

Turn to these ABCs to help a generation of college students devastated by the pandemic

Reaching learners now means going beyond waiving standardized test scores, argues the provost of The College of Health Care Professions.

By Joanitt Montano • Aug. 22, 2022

College students who are parents face wide affordability gap, study finds

Parents making minimum wage must work 50-plus hours a week for tuition and child care. Colleges can help, but pay needs to rise, the Education Trust says.

By Lilah Burke • Aug. 19, 2022